Chapter 1

PROLOGUE EPISODE ONE AFTER THEY CLOSED THE KEYHOLE, SORA AND HIS friends thought they would find the princesses standing at the door in Hollow Bastion, awaiting their return. But instead they stepped through the door into a strange place shrouded in mist. “Huh…?” Donald cocked his head. “Now where are we…?” Sora mumbled, looking around. Then a strange sensation came over him. “Ah. It seems you are special, too.” At the sudden voice behind him, Sora turned. “Who are you?!” He saw a man standing there alone, wearing a black cloak, looking down at Sora from beneath a hood. “Ansem…?” Goofy said uncertainly, and readied his shield behind Sora. The man seemed like Ansem. But the hood covering his face made it hard to tell who it was. Tensed for a fight, Sora and his friends glared at the mysterious figure. “That name rings familiar…,” the man murmured, as if to himself, and then spoke to Sora again. “You remind me of him.” “What’s that supposed to mean?!” Sora shot back, taking a stance with the Keyblade. He had no idea who the man was talking about. “It means you are not whole. You are incomplete. Allow me…to test your strength.” The man approached, gliding over the floor, and flung orbs of light from his hands. The attack struck Sora and sent him sprawling. “Sora!” Goofy cried, running to his defense, but the man drew twin swords from his cloak and knocked Goofy back. “Firaga! Thundaga! Blizzaga!” Donald hurled spells at the man, but they all dissipated harmlessly without even singeing the black cloak. “…Impressive,” said the man. “This will be enjoyable.” “What are you talking about…?!” Sora shouted, springing to his feet. “It is beyond your comprehension for now. Until we meet again,” the man replied softly. The blades disappeared from his hands. “Wait—who are you?!” “I am…but a mere shell.” With that, the man vanished like smoke into the air. Still clutching the Keyblade, Sora stared in confusion. And then a voice he knew spoke. “Good work, Sora.” He turned to find Leon standing there. “Are we back…?” “Something wrong, Sora?” Leon asked, seeing him looking so bewildered. “No… It’s nothing.” Sora grinned and ran ahead to the final battle—the fight against Ansem. When he came to, he was standing somewhere else. It was the edge of the world—or so he felt. Jagged, crumbling rocks jutted up from a dark seashore. But come to think of it, hadn’t he sat in a place sort of like this, talking about the future? A blue sea…a blue sky… The scene simply floated up in his mind, and he shook his head. That couldn’t have happened. Then he glanced down at himself. He was wearing unfamiliar black clothes—a cloak, to be precise. He knew he was seeing himself for the first time, but strangely, nothing about his appearance seemed wrong. “So, you’ve arrived,” said a voice behind him. He turned and saw a figure much like himself—someone wearing a black cloak, face completely hidden under a hood. His own expression was most likely concealed from the other man, too. “I’ve been to see him.” Him? He nearly asked who the other man meant, but he had a vague sense that he already knew. He bit back the question. “He looks a lot like you.” Right—and I probably look a lot like him. He and I are two sides of the same coin… “Who are you?” he asked the other man. “I’m what’s left. An empty shell. Or maybe I’m all there ever was.” He frowned slightly at the man’s evasive reply. “I meant your name.” Yes—he wanted to know the name of the person standing before him. “My name is of no importance. What about you? Do you remember your true name?” It sounded almost like the man was taunting him. He opened his mouth to respond… To say his name. The name of the one in the very depths of his memory. “My true name…is…” And here…the story begins.